With the mighty point of steel and holy flame submerged into its head, the creature howled out in pain, loosening its grip on Rose. Soon, its illuminated body burst into bright yellow flames as it collapsed onto the ballroom ground, shaking the area with a loud thud. Dead. Granted, it wasn’t a particularly powerful creature, but hopefully one that would derail them for quite some time. The dark form of Marianne shook her head and sighed.

“Oh well. Don’t worry about the offer Rose. There’s plenty of time to reconsider,” she said ominously. Skipping over to the center of the room again, she smiled as the invisible creature soon became accessible to the mortal eye. As its corpse continued to burn, large scales could be seen attached to an elongated form.

Indeed, it was a Basilisk.

“Interesting creatures they are,” Marianne commentated. “Why, I suppose-”

“How dare you speak as if we’re worthless! And you actually want us to pay for your help?”

Marianne turned around slowly to set her single seen red eye on the fuming form of Faira. Smiling innocently, she payed no heed to the closing distance between the human and herself.

“Why Faira, whatever do you mean? I’m only trying to help,” she offered up kindly.

“You know I’ve had enough of this place, enough of you!”

“Well, I’m afraid I can’t help you rid yourself of either problem my friend,” Marianne answered back casually, even as the shadows around her began to close in and Faira began to transform. The dark dressed girl narrowed her eye.

“Oh my…how interesting…”

“You want payment? I’ll give you ‘payment.’”

The crimson-eyed girl did not struggle as tendrils of black ensnared her in their grip, slowly crushing her small frame. When the pillar of flame arose up as well, a wide grin made itself known on the girl’s visage.

“Shadows and fire? Oh yes, I was right after all! You truly are a very interesting girl Faira! All of you really! Why I could-”

A sick squelching sound filled the area as the darkness holding Marianne in place penetrated her abdomen. Eyes glazing over, the girl coughed up blood onto her black dress. As the pillar came closer, she made no attempt to escape. Instead, she gave Faira the shadow of a deranged smile…and soon she was engulfed by the tornado of fire.

Moments passed, and it was over. Nothing remained but a charred corpse on the ground, lying in its own pool of blood. It was over. Their host was dead.

“….oh my. That’s really bad for me, isn’t it?”

Marianne’s voice came from directly behind Faira. If the human were to turn around now, she would see the girl that had been murdered before them all in a relatively new condition. But…what? She had just been…what?

As if to answer these questions, a multitude of pale arms erupted out of the first Marianne’s blood. With a torrent of multiple giggling, they dragged the dead Marianne further into the blood, consuming her whole until nothing remained. Soon, even the blood had formed into itself, leaving no traces of her existence.

“Oh, that was very scary what you did there Faira! But you really should control your temper a little, ok?”

This time, Marianne took a step towards the human. Immediately the area around Faira’s figure became cold, colder than ever before, and frigid enough to put out any remaining patches of flame and darkness.

Smirking, Marianne tilted her head slightly.

“I understand you’re scared and want to get out, but please try to understand, hmm? You need to have better control. I’ll let this slide for now. But if you try something like that again, well…”

The enigmatic girl leaned in now, her breath as icy as winter. With a free hand, she parted the bangs covering her left eye, revealing a pupil that was a rich purple. Something about that eye…it was both horrific and familiar at the same time…who, or rather, what was she?

If you ever do that again…I will not hesitate to end your story. And not the peaceful kind too, no. I’ll take you to the highest building I can find, rip out your entrails…and then hang you with the spare pieces.”

Marianne immediately backed away, the heavy aura quickly fading.

“Ok?”

She was back to a bright and cheery smile. Walking over to the Basilisk now, she placed a palm on its corpse.

“I’ll be taking this then.”

The same trick from before occurred. Pale appendages rising up to take the thing into who knew where. It was just all sorts of morbid. She glanced at Faira one more time.

"Just remember dear Faira. You can control shadows...but my darkness goes deeper than that. Oh, I should use that in a book sometime! How interesting..."

As soon as the girl finished her quote she would find Adrian's blade across her throat him standing slightly behind her and to the left. He truly cut a majestic figure in golden armor with enormous white wings, a halo of fire, and the burning sword. "Your darkness may run deep, but my flames are those of the light" He said calmly. The sword seemed to glow brighter at her throat "I have killed many demons before, I recommend yo do not threaten my allies again, or I shall be forced to release the truly powerful one inside myself" his eyes were dark as he spoke.

Rosaline looked dejectedly down at the shattered remains of her legs, the edges already glowing with magic. By the time Adrian had defeated the Basilisk her other fractures were already sturdy enough for her to move, but he had taken it out before she could make the beast suffer. So now the Nebula sat up, looking over her injuries and checking that it all properly pieced back together, her legs reforming quickly.

The minute she was capable of standing Rosaline did so, pulling herself to her unsteady feet, her legs were still finalizing their repairs, and she continued to dust herself off as threats were thrown.

Glass orbs turned to Marianne, everything in her mind screaming danger and certain death, but still she did not appreciate the threats on the poor human. Slowly Rosaline took a protective position beside Faira, watching the confusing yet familiar woman with vengeful eyes. She held her tongue though, unlike a certain angel who decided it best to threaten whatever Marianne was.

“I am not sure what she is Adrian but I think it would be best if you not threaten someone…or something… that we have no grasp on what they are capable of.” Rose said, her tone monotone but with plenty of venom when she mentioned Marianne.

If the nebula was in her rightful form then she would have already lashed out herself, though if that were so she would not be here in the first place. For now though Rose was content of devising multiple ways that she would rid the world of this terrifying creature when she finally regained her beautiful mist-like form. While she did so her eyes began to look around the ballroom, only to freeze on a painted portrait at the top of a set of stairs that had not been there a minute ago.

It was not the stairs that confused her though. No, it was the being in the painting. It was a man with slick black hair and ice blue eyes, eyes that felt like they were laughing at her. He had a thin face with a long nose, big eyes, and thin lips.

It was a face she could not believe to be seeing again, and after spotting it her anger turned towards another. Rosaline would have her vengeance on the man who did this to them all, and if she got the chance to wound Marianne afterward then all the better.

Faira’s stomach churned as she sensed the darkness crushing the woman, confusion arising at Marianne’s smile despite the force squeezing the life from her. Faira tired once more to regain control of the elements, to put the power back in its place where it belonged, but the flame and living shadows raged on, a sick contentment dusting through her mind as the flame consumed the woman.

No, no! her head twitched in conflicting irritation as her fight to regain control made the flame’s intensity diminish slightly.

Job done, the darkness and flames sunk into the ground and receded back to Faira, bile rising to her throat at the sight of what remained. With the target of her hatred and fear seemingly disposed of, Faira finally managed to get a cap on the powers and enhanced emotions, pushing them and their side effects back to their corner.

She stumbled forward slightly as the magic released her, her body weak and back once again sore from hitting the wall. She swallowed hard, her breathing shaky as she took in the blood-bathed corpse, her legs threatening to give out as the shadows still lingering at her feet swirled around her like loyal dogs waiting for their master’s order.

She’s… I just… Faira placed a hand to her forehead and swallowed hard. I just killed someone! She looked down at her shaking hand in disgust, a spark flickering from one finger to the other, before dying out.

“…Oh my. That’s really bad for me, isn’t it?”

Faira gasped and spun around, stumbling backwards as she willed her legs to support her. There, Marianne stood before her. Mouth agape and wondering whether she was relieved that she had not murdered someone, or wanted to run as fast and far away from the woman as she could, she glanced back to where Marianne’s fake corpse rested. She looked on with widened eyes as giggling white arms disposed of the corpse in their own ominous way.

Unsure of what to say to Marianne, she took a frightened step back from the woman who had defied death. Suddenly, a violent shiver ran through her as the air around her grew icy, her breath becoming vapor in the air and the single remaining strand of shadow withering away.

She held her breath as Marianne revealed her eerie eye for the first time… or had she seen it before, as impossible as the déjà vu was?

“If you ever do that again…I will not hesitate to end your story. And not the peaceful kind too, no. I’ll take you to the highest building I can find, rip out your entrails…and then hang you with the spare pieces.“

Faira only whimpered in response, an arctic cold settling in her at the imagery even though the physical chill had disappeared.

D-definitely run, she thought, deciding the answer to her earlier debate. She took a step back as if to do just that, but her legs finally failed her. She collapsed to the ground, her world turning black for a moment.

As her vision returned, she propped herself shakily up with her arms. She inhaled and looked up as Marianne said her name, and swallowed as the woman continued. She jumped as Rosaline stood beside her.

Forcing herself painfully to a sitting position, she cast a wide-eyed warning glance at Adrian as he placed his glowing blade against the woman’s throat, glad both when Rosaline spoke up, and that someone powerful enough to easily defeat a basilisk seemed to be on her side—at least for the moment.

Glancing up at Rosaline, Faira dared to take her attention away from Adrian and Marianne for a moment to follow the doll-like woman’s gaze. She ran a hand through her hair as she noticed the new staircase.

A-and let the mad-house continue… She swallowed against a lump in her throat and hugged herself as a residual chill ran through her.

Conna'Cel tried to dodge the attack, and was hit with a glancing blow. Still, it left enough force for him to spiral out of control and force him to land roughly on the ground to stabilize himself. He skidded on his feet for a few feet before stopping to a halt.

He took a moment to recalculate the creature's movements, but by then the beast was already killed. He then took the time to scan it now that it was visible, noting everything he could gain from it and storing the info for later reference. Ignoring the arguments in the background, he watched as the mysterious girl Marianne take the corpse and leave, then put away his metal wings. The time for flight was over, and the time for escape continued.

As he was about to exit through the doorway he had found earlier, he noticed another opening that definitely was not there before. The painting above it was negligible, though, and he ignored it. Moving past the porcelain girl, he went up to the staircase, looked up, and started scanning the path for potential dangers.

"Your darkness may run deep, but my flames are those of the light. I have killed many demons before, I recommend yo do not threaten my allies again, or I shall be forced to release the truly powerful one inside myself."

“You…never were very bright, were you Adrian?”

Marianne turned around to face the angel with a bored, placid stare.

“Honestly, there’s not a portion of your life that doesn’t bore me to death, heh. Split-personality? Able to change forms between angel and demon? Noble one minute and then insane the next? It just makes me want to gag! Honestly, it’s like your entire life is a bad parody of some deluded hero, ready to slay everyone on sight when the mood strikes him. It’s really just pathetic.”

Putting the palm of her hand on his flaming sword, Marianne suddenly moved forward, thrusting the blade’s edge along the flesh of her neck. The life in her eye soon faded, her body losing strength. Despite it all, she continued onward, eventually digging the flaming blade deep enough to sever her head. Smiling weakly, she collapsed near Adrian’s feet, her dismounted head rolling off.

At once, the familiar volley of appendages leapt out of Marianne’s blood and dragged her downwards into the unknown. The arms even made sure to cease the discarded head as well.

“Well hello there!”

Instantly, Marianne appeared before the angel once again. This time however, she tilted her head as a sick grin spread across her lips.

“You’re nothing but a boring character in this mad little tale of ours, aren’t you! Ehehe, keep on doing it though, cause it truly sates my boredom! Just look how interesting you are! Go on, I implore to do so you deranged hybrid! Keep on intimidating me! Keep killing me if you must! Maybe after the tenth time, or the fifth, or the millionth death, will that poor excuse of a retched brain of yours figure out the obvious!”

As she said her final words, she began to fade away into nothingness, waving at the misguided group before her.

“You. Can’t. Get. Rid. Of. Me. Light? Darkness? They mean nothing to me! Ehehehehehehe!”

And on that final note, the enigmatic girl was gone from their site, her point having been proven. She would not interfere…for now. Instead, she had more important schedules to keep…

As soon as her black dressed form faded away, so too did the magnificent image of the ballroom. Gone were the high walls and heavy chandeliers that hung above, the blood red carpet that pooled at their feet below. Now the group found themselves back in the hallways where they began.

The stairs and the painting with the black-haired man with frost eyes still remained though.

Adrian's green eyes narrowed as the girl impaled herself upon his blade then reformed again. As she disappeared she spouted some nonsense about her immortality. He merely opened his hand and the golden armor and angelic sword vanished leaving him in a white tshirt and jeans. He had rings of halos going up both arms and his white wings folded beneath him.

"Now then we need to find a way out of here, and for all of your sakes I hope we do so before my other side shows back up. He isn't going to be very happy about me dragging him back into the depths of our mind, and I fear he will take his rage out on the closest thing to him. Also my fair lady I do so apologize about his taunting you earlier he is truly a narcissistic, arrogant, psychopath. I assure you I shall attempt to keep you and the others safe." Adrian said in a calm voice.

Movement caught her attention, and Faira glanced over at Conna’Cel as he moved toward the staircase, watching him momentarily as he began to ascend the stairs, her body tense as she expected the stairs to turn into a living thing and devour him at any moment.

Marianne’s voice made her attention snap back to the woman and Adrian. She swallowed against the prickle of bile rising in her throat as the woman let the blade dig into her throat.

Faira shouted as Marianne’s head rolled to the floor, and she scurried away as it rolled toward her before the eerie disembodied arms stopped the head a foot from her. She hurried shakily to her feet as the woman reappeared in front of Adrian, only to fade away as she finished speaking.

Faira blinked as Adriane transformed, then looked around as the ballroom morphed into a hall. She took a couple backward steps before her back pressed against the wall. She gasped and pulled away, turning her head to look at it. She jumped and looked back to Adriane as he spoke.

”…I fear he will take his rage out on the closest thing to him.”

“Isn’t that just fantastic,” Faira breathed under her breath. She raised her eyes to his as he addressed her, amazed at the stark contrast between who now stood in front of her and the demon she had first encountered. “Um, yeah. Thanks...” she began quietly, caution in her voice. “She… that—that woman” she glanced around as if expecting her to appear at the mere mention of her, before looking back to the angel, “called you Adrian, right?”

Movement caught her attention, and Faira glanced over at Conna’Cel as he moved toward the staircase, watching him momentarily as he began to ascend the stairs, her body tense as she expected the stairs to turn into a living thing and devour him at any moment.

Marianne’s voice made her attention snap back to the woman and Adrian. She swallowed against the prickle of bile rising in her throat as the woman let the blade dig into her throat.

Faira shouted as Marianne’s head rolled to the floor, and she scurried away as it rolled toward her before the eerie disembodied arms stopped the head a foot from her. She hurried shakily to her feet as the woman reappeared in front of Adrian, only to fade away as she finished speaking.

Faira blinked as Adriane transformed, then looked around as the ballroom morphed into a hall. She took a couple backward steps before her back pressed against the wall. She gasped and pulled away, turning her head to look at it. She jumped and looked back to Adriane as he spoke.

”…I fear he will take his rage out on the closest thing to him.”

“Isn’t that just fantastic,” Faira breathed under her breath. She raised her eyes to his as he addressed her, amazed at the stark contrast between who now stood in front of her and the demon she had first encountered. “Um, yeah. Thanks...” she began quietly, caution in her voice. “She… that—that woman” she glanced around as if expecting her to appear at the mere mention of her, before looking back to the angel, “called you Adrian, right?”

A shudder passed through the woman’s body, a dark feeling of recognition eating away at her insides from the words Marianne had spoken. The darkness of the mysterious woman’s tone had clicked somewhere in her mind. It reminded her of a whisper she had heard hundreds of years ago, one that had been displeased and angry with her after she discarded her mortality… her humanity. There was no way it was the same voice, though it chilled her to the core just like the whisper had.

Then suddenly the presence, the feeling of danger, dissipated and when it did the room changed once again. The action pulled the Nebula from her musings quickly. Rosaline’s glassy orbs blinked, a look of annoyance flashing across her doll-like features. “I truly wish this hellish place would refrain from changing every 10 seconds.” She huffed, her voice barely noticeable before she turned to face her shaken companions.

The angel/ demon man, the one Marianne had referred to as Adrian, seemed to have been unfazed… unlike the rest of their group. Rosaline’s legs still had spider web cracks, though they were hard to notice, running up them and her hair was a little tousled from being thrown to the ground earlier. Faira however looked awful, she was pale and she looked like she’d faint if Marianne returned and pulled another of her tricks.

“I know we all want out of here quickly but I have a hunch that the one responsible for our entrapment isn’t a mere psychopathic human…. He seems to want our suffering to be drawn out, hence the house sending things to slow us down and injure us.” She states, trying not to look back at the portrait hanging on the stairs behind her. It felt like the eyes were mocking her, staring into the back of her head, and she didn’t enjoy the feeling.

Maybe I could destroy that miserable excuse for art… but if it’s anything like it’s likeness…… Rose thought, only to refrain from shuddering at the idea. She wanted to forget that, after all what was the use worrying about the dead.

The painting of the man with the black hair and the cold eyes stared hauntingly back at the group, those twin chips of optical ice cold enough to pierce the soul. Indeed, it almost seemed as if the picture was moving ever so slightly, subtle actions that would take a doubtful glance to test its validity…wait. There were two more paintings as well….no, four more. Ten? Twenty?

As if suddenly summoned from nothingness, the long staircase leading upwards soon had their walls vacant no longer. Rows upon rows of the exact same painting covered every inch of the group’s sight, those blue eyes now being magnified by numbers. It felt as if the malice held so strongly in that gaze could be felt in the air itself, weighing down on the group like a crushing rock.

At the end of the long stairway laid one final painting; however, this one was much different in contrast to the rest. It showed several figures this time in a wide landscape as opposed to the single portraits seen thus far. The figures all appeared to be…Rosaline, Adrain, Conna'Cel, and…Faira.

Something was off. The picture displayed a truly gruesome scene.

Each of the group’s members lay in small red puddles sketched in what appeared to be messy marker inside the painting. Crude “X” marks were crossed off on the member’s toonish heads with what appeared to be black crayon, scribbled all over like a child’s madness mantra. Worst yet were the implications of the picture itself.

For although all of the people inside had red leaking out of them and black marks crossed over their visage, one person in particular stood out. Faira, who had been drawn entirely in pink marker, stood over the bleeding corpses with shadow in one hand and fire in the other. A twisted grin was spread across her lips while tears of yellow stained her cheeks.

Beneath the painting was a plaque that was both rusted and soiled from age, time, and wear. Scratched sloppily into it was the name of the particular piece.

She Lies

A final arrow of blue was traced over to point to Faira, indicating her role in the picture’s story.

Adrian nodded "yeah Ive got a lot of names but you can call me that if you wish.". As the continued down the paintings turned to a more gruesome note. Adrian stopped and looked at the photo before turning to Faira. "Wha......" He was cut off and fell to his knees clutching his chest. the halos crumbled into dust and his eyes turned red. Horns grew from his head and his fangs and claws extended.

Standing he cracked his neck. "Damn that angel for spoiling all the fun" he said. Noticing the painting he studied it for a second before turning to look at Faira. "My my my what have we here? The innocent girl is a brutal killer now?" moving closer to her he licked his lips "tell you what girly lets play a game. You try your best to kill me, and I try my best to ravage you may the best one win." he said. His lips curved into a malevolent smile.

“Okay… Thanks for coming to my defense earlier.” Faira’s attention turned to Rosaline as the woman spoke.

Faira ran a hand through her hair as the woman finished speaking. “Isn’t that just wonderful,” she whispered.

Looking to the portrait at the bottom of the stairs, she took a couple steps toward it, stopping at the base as Adriane continued forward a few more steps. Her eyes grew wide as the paintings multiplied, the man’s eyes boring into them from each painting, almost taunting them. Faira turned, looking down the hall as the paintings spread, before looking back to the first.

She gasped at the painting that now hung there, looking as if a talented, yet psychotic child had drawn it. She shook her head disbelievingly at the gruesome scene, taking half a step back as Adriane, too, noticed the painting and turned to her.

She watched, her heart thundering against her chest and mouth agape, as Adriane turned back into his demon form.

She gasped and stumbled back as the demon stepped toward her.

"My my my what have we here? The innocent girl is a brutal killer now?"
“No, no!” she whispered hoarsely. “I-I’m not a… a…” she swallowed hard, her frightened eyes meeting the demon’s as he continued to speak the proposal of his game. “What? No!” She took a couple more hasty steps away from the demon. “I-I’m not going to try to kill you!” Her voice rose an octave as she said “kill.”

Just when Conna'Cel thought he was done scanning, more changes appeared. He walked up the stairs and took some time to scan the staircase again to determine the changes, and found that it was merely an addition of paintings. The same painting that was above the staircase. There was also one painting that was different from the others.

Before he could examine what was so different about it, a warning sign appeared on its hud. He turned toward cause of the warning, down the staircase, and identified the demon that had attacked him with fire earlier. He pointed his left arm at the demon as it transformed into its minigun barrel, saying, "Hostile reidentified, engaging." A target reticle appeared on Conna'Cel's hud, locked on to Adrian, and began his assault, firing a barrage of laser bolts.

“…I believe I am lost.”

Of course, the girl said this to no one in particular. Probably because there was no one around to hear her words. Even so, that did not deter her from making small side remarks as she walked along the hallways.

“Interesting. It appears this house moves on its own,” she muttered. “A death trap I take it? But why would…it’s not my place to judge. The master does what the master wants. That’s all there is to it.”

Having reassured herself of the purpose of even entering this madhouse, the girl blinked once before continuing on her way. These hallways were rather long anyway, and it was doubtful she’d find her master here anytime soon. Perhaps she would stop and kindly ask for directions to the next batch of creatures she meets.

Preferably less hostile ones. She had already wasted enough knives today.

Upstairs, at a considerable distance away from the traveling girl, the air began thick with tension and mistrust. The crudely made painting continued to remain dormant as Faira cringed back from the now demonic Adrian. Having sensed the return of this malevolent entity, Conna'Cel had set its weapons on him.

Now the staircase shook with the force of explosions and gunfire. The other paintings, each with the image of the man on them, suddenly combusted into piles of green fire. The flames leaped about greedily, moving on their own and consuming the walls around the group.

If they lingered too long, they would all perish. The painting of Faira watched on in silence.

Rosaline hadn’t reacted to Faira’s words, having completely gone silent from what was happening before her very eyes. The paintings… they were EVERYWHERE and she didn’t like that at all. The nebula took a step towards one of the many portraits, tempted to rip it from the walls and mangle it with her bare hands out of pure rage. That idea was cut short when she heard the words behind her.

” tell you what girly let’s play a game. You try your best to kill me, and I try my best to ravage you may the best one win."
The words were followed by Faira’s fearful rejection of the idea, clear tangible fear being obvious in her voice.

In seconds Rose had moved, putting her body completely in Adrian’s way. Her hands moved, ripples of energy and power washing off of her as she glared at the demon. Then her lips parted, practically about to tell him off, but it was interrupted by a volley of projectiles being shot at him. “Can none of you get along?!” she exclaims, suddenly tired of this group’s constant fighting. The nebula shifted her hands, the magic she had been conjuring flying from her fingers to restrain the two idiots who seemed to make her life difficult. It would tighten and shift every time they moved, keeping them bound until she deemed it best to release them.

That time would be sooner than she thought though, the walls around them suddenly being engulfed by emerald flames. A few of the embers licked at her feet, growing hotter and closer every second. “We need to move. NOW!!” she ordered, reaching back to grab the human’s hand as she let the binds around the other two dissipate. Then, realizing that if they went up they would be trapped, she ushered her down the stairs.

Rose paused, looking back at the two guys. “Get moving!! I’ll try to hold the flames back for a little longer.” She exclaims, reaching out with her hands. Suddenly the flames backed off, being forced back by the Nebula’s magic. Once they were down the stairs she’d rejoin them but if she didn’t intervene the flames would overtake them in seconds.

Faira sighed in relief as Rose stepped between her and the demon, the woman radiating with power, as the robot fired at Adriane.

“Can none of you get along?” the woman exclaimed, making Faira jump. She looked on with slight awe as the woman released her power on Adrian and the robot, binding them.

Faira gasped and took a single step down as green flames suddenly burst from the paintings and hungrily licked at the walls.

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” she muttered shakily when Rose spoke again. Before she could turn and run down the stairs, the woman gripped her hand. Her eyes widened as she finally found out the woman was, in fact, made of glass as she had seemed.

Faira stumbled up a couple steps as Rose pulled her along down the stairs before she fell in step. When the woman stopped, releasing her, and turned toward the two boys, Faira descended the remaining few stairs before Rose addressed the others.

Stopping at the bottom of the stairs, she looked back up as Rose tried to hold off the flames. Glancing from the oddly colored fire to the woman and back, she hesitated for only a moment as the image of the pillar of flame her powers had used her to summon came to her mind.

Control. It’s all about control, she thought, taking a deep breath. She mimicked rose and reached forward, trying to command the flames to recede, unsure if the magical fire would obey her command.

Adrian was held by some sort of binding magic and snarled at the nebula. The minute he was released he turned and laughed at the robot. As Adrian retreated down the stairs towards the women he blew black fire up the stairs. As the demon fire hit the green fire it would form a barrier halting its advance.

The green fire erupted like the birth of a new volcano, roaring out in rage and fury. As it cascaded down the stairs towards the group, it found itself suddenly halted by a barrier; the culmination of magic, dark fire, and demonic fire. The green fire lashed out, as if it were a sentient being, prodding the barrier like a deranged animal dead set on its kill. A few more seconds, and the fire would break the barrier, consuming them all. No doubt the shield was draining them all….

However, as if by some miracle, the green flames gave up. Leaping back, the sprouted away from the staircase and receded back into the multiple paintings on the wall. As the smoke died down, the group could see the last emerald embers burn away into nothingness. The paintings still remained…but the stairs were now naught but fresh ash and torn wood.

They would not know it, but the painting of Faira now contained a big, bloody “X” running right through it. The group would have to find another way around the mansion or fall back into despair.

“Can…I assume you four are the ones responsible for this mess?”

The voice came behind them and there stood the traveling girl. She wore an all-black outfit, something much akin to a butler’s uniform combined with a skirt, with long, white gloves fitted her hands. Combat boots adorned her feet and a dainty maid headdress rested comfortably on her head. Pale blue eyes stared at the tired group while snow white hair crowned her head; and yet, the girl looked no older than Faira or Rose, so it was strange to see her with aged hair.

As if realizing her rudeness, the girl immediately bowed to them, further supporting the image of a refined and regal maid.

“Apologies for my intrusion. My name is Scarlet. It…appears that you are all lost in this place as well?”

Conna'Cel was analyzing his magic bonds, but could not gain any significant data because he was quickly released. He was about to fire at Adrian again, but green flames erupted out of the paintings on the wall. He made a snap decision and decided that the hostile would have to wait to be eliminated; for now, he needed to escape from the flames. He barely managed to avoid getting caught up in the black flames, then started analyzing the conflict between the two flames once he was down the stairs. He got more data from the flames than from his magic bonds, but still nothing significant.

That was when the newcomer showed up. Conna'Cel turned toward the sound of the voice, and identified to source to be the girl that now appeared. He waited a few seconds to see what she would do, and she seemed to be polite enough. He responded, "I am Conna'Cel, and yes, I lack necessary information to navigate these halls." He made sure to use "I" instead of "we". "What do you know of our current location, Scarlet?"